Fighting to Nowhere
by S-h-a-t-t-e-r-e-d S-o-u-l-0
Summary: Cocoon had been saved, the group of survivors moved onto living together building themselves up as a family, when a tragedy they all thought had come to pass strikes harder than ever. They must fight for their lives, and there's no guarantee they'll live
1. Riots and Nightmares

"_What do you plan to do now?" Lightning asked the younger boy in a hushed tone. The sun had slowly begun to hide itself behind the swirl of blue and pink clouds, creating long, intimidating shadows from nearby hills and trees. _

_Hope stared at the group of survivors, who were all reuniting after the long journey. Sazh was spinning around in circles, his son in his arms, who was crunched in unbreakable bear hug. Snow had already made it past the hugs with his fiancé, Serah, and they'd moved onto murmuring sweet things in each others ears, with an occasional kiss. _

"_I don't know," Hope whispered, suddenly feeling lost. A part of him desperately wanted to go back and see if his dad was still alive and well, but he couldn't leave his friends. They'd been through so much together, the thought of leaving them was unbearable. _

"_Listen, we practically live in a mansion. If you need a place to crash, come on over to our house," Lightning smiled. Hope stared at her, eyes wide. Was she actually asking him to stay? He felt his cheeks burn bright red, and looked down in embarrassment._

"_Er, I don't want to be a burden," Hope tried lamely. The pink haired women scoffed at the teenaged boy's reply. She lightly punched him on the shoulder before pointing a finger with her free hand at the rejoicing group of comrades._

"_Listen, they're your family, right?" she questioned, although it came out more as a statement. Hope merely nodded, unsure exactly where Lightning was going with this._

"_In a family, no one is ever a burden. Every single one is needed, if one leaves, the family shatters. Besides, how could you ever be bothersome to us? You just helped defeat Ragnarok."_

_Hope grinned sheepishly, and scratched at the back of his head. He glanced over at Lightning, surprised to see her eyes piercing into his. They stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity before Hope could finally respond._

"_I guess if you don't mind then. Don't worry though, I'll do my own laundry."_

_Lightning chuckled before wrapping a comforting arm around the white haired boy's shoulder, "You bet you are. Trust me, you'll be helping out around the house a lot. Don't worry though, I'll be sure to give the majority of it to Snow."_

_Hope laughed at the comment, although he felt something odd pull at him from inside his chest. A strange fear filled him up, similar to how he felt just before a battle. For some reason, he just knew that this wasn't over. Cocoon may be safe for now, but how long the tranquility would last was another question. _

**.**

Exactly six months had passed since the battle against Ragnarok, exactly six months since Vanille and Fang gave their lives to save Cocoon, exactly six months since everyone once again thought they were safe. Things were about to go wrong, however. Horribly wrong. Hope had known since that day peace was only temporary. That time had come.

**.**

"Hey, buddy, Hope. Wake up!"

Hope groaned and whacked his arm around to shoo away the intruder. Snow, who obviously wasn't going to take no for an answer, shook his shoulder roughly. His and Serah's wedding was mere days away now, and Snow, being the OCD guy he was, suddenly believed that the party that had been preplanned was no longer enough to suit him. It was the third night this week he'd came running to Hope's room, begging for help.

"What time is it?" Hope huffed, mustering the most annoyed tone he could through his drowsiness. Snow laughed nervously before muttering the words "a little bit before five." The teenager reached over threw his pillow at Snow before sitting up.

"Let me guess, it's about the wedding."

"Shoot, you got me. You're really smart, maybe you could use that brll-"

"I don't need to be accommodated, just spit it out."

"Oh, feisty."

"Snow!"

"Right. Sorry." Snow rubbed the back of his head with embarrassment, "well, I don't really know what to say for the toast. Do you think you could help me out?"

Hope bit back the urge to point out the fact that Big-Bad-Snow was actually at a loss for words.

"And I'm the first one that came to mind for something like this?"

Snow shrugged feebly, and stared at the half asleep boy with puppy dog eyes. Hope blew a raspberry, and flattened out his bed-head. He already knew what his excuse was, and quite frankly, it was a good one. Sazh's ideas weren't the brightest because he used jokes to make himself heard, and Snow wouldn't dare wake Lightning up. The thought alone sent shivers up the middle aged man's spine. Hope sighed in defeat, suddenly feeling wide awake and stared at Snow in the eye.

"Well, you have to mention to love her of course. I mean, even after everything that's happened, the two of you managed to make it through, but don't get too mushy, just make it something that'll make her swoon. Let her know you'll always be there for her."

Snow clicked his tongue, jotting notes down into a small note pad that he whipped out from his pocket. After finishing, he grabbed Hope and pulled him into a one armed hug, giving him a well deserved noogie.

"Snow!" Hope moaned in protest, pushing him away. Snow grinned maliciously before standing up and making his way back towards the door.

"Er, thanks for the help, kid! Sorry I woke you up."

Hope muttered a quiet "you should be" as he laid back down onto his bed, no longer feeling the urge to sleep. He listened to the door shut quietly, and stared at the ceiling of his bedroom, watching the designs swirl into random shapes and images. He thought back to the days where he spent his time running, and fighting for his life. All of the battles that ended in tears and pain. The other battles that ended with a new type of connection that he'd never experienced. He was shocked with himself when he realized a feeling of nostalgia creeping into the depths of his heart.

"Why would I ever miss such a horrible experience?" he murmured to himself, suddenly feeling terrible for ever feeling something so ludicrous.

'_Because, everyone you met during those rough times shaped who you are today. You miss fighting along side them, not the loss of your previous life' _a quiet voice pointed out from inside his mind.

Hope couldn't contain the smile from dancing upon his lips. He closed his eyes and let the sweet memories of everything non-violent tug him back into the depths of his dreams.

**.**

"BREAKFAST!" Snow hollered from the kitchen. He was casually flipping eggs, and spreading butter across warm toast. He hummed quietly to himself, earning glances from Serah, who sat at the table, drinking a cup of coffee. Dajh came flying down the stairs, making airplane sounds and running about the kitchen, dodging garbage cans and countertops.

"Look at him go!" Snow announced into a spoon he whipped from the dishwasher, "he goes left, he goes right! Never in all my years have I seen such talent!"

Dajh giggled as Snow lifted him off the ground and ran through the house with the boy hanging over his shoulder. Serah laughed quietly as she heard her fiancé yell from the living room, "watch out for that tree!"

Hope was the next one downstairs, looking slightly distraught. He gave Serah his infamous 'what-the-heck-is-Snow-doing?' look. She merely shrugged as she gestured for him to sit beside her. He snatched a piece of toast and sat down, staring at the cover of the unopened news paper lying on the table. He made a sound of disgust before tossing it into a nearby trash can. Since becoming a l'Cie, Hope had been able to make clear many things in this world that he would've never even dreamed to, had he not been directly in the middle of that war. Ever since, the slightest wrong doing in Cocoon made the young boy at the tender age of fifteen, gag. He knew the higher ups lied about half of what was put into the paper, in order to save themselves from horrible humiliation. The idea of anyone questioning their power was unthinkable, which is only one of the many reasons the purge came to pass. Also, little had the people of Cocoon known, that the leader of their world had actually been a Fal'Cie, the one they all feared in the first place.

Serah watched Hope with worried eyes. That hadn't been the first time he'd reacted like that after seeing a headline in the newspaper, or listening to word on the streets whenever he ran to the store to grab groceries. Having been asleep in the depths of that crystal after completing her focus, she had missed out on many of the events that progressed afterward. There were some things that her friends had refused to speak about, which not only drove her crazy, but also made her worry for them intensify. Not even Snow uttered a word on some parts of their pilgrimage, and he rarely ever hid anything from Serah. Whatever the group of survivors went through during their time together while fighting to complete their focus, and save the world, it was no where near good. Serah was pulled from her thoughts as Lightning made her way into the kitchen, dropping herself into the nearest chair.

"Tired?" Hope grinned, finding amusement in seeing the usually lively women bustling about the house, yelling profanities because someone forgot to dust the floors. She was practically gulping down her coffee, and she didn't even bother to come up with a snide remark towards Hope.

"Oh god, I'm getting too old for this," Sazh whined, finally making it down the stairs. He limped like an old man who lost his cane, groaning as he rubbed furiously at his back, "I can't get out of the damn bed without throwing something out of place."

"Welcome to my life," Light scoffed, "I didn't get a wink of sleep last night."

Hope raised his eyebrows at Light. She was never one to complain about lack of sleep. While on their journey, they were lucky to get three hours of sleep per night, and Lightning sometimes got none all together. He knew it was deeper than that, although he also knew she would never admit it in front of a room full of people. That wasn't going to stop him from trying.

"What's wrong?"

Lightning looked deep in thought, and at first, Hope thought she hadn't heard him, but after a long moment of silence, she opened her mouth to speak.

"I don't know. I've just been getting these weird feelings lately. Like someone is watching us."

Serah frowned at her sister. She didn't normally just share her thoughts and feelings so openly, whatever it was must've really bothered her. No one had a chance to respond before Snow came running back with Dajh, who was laughing hysterically. He immediately caught onto the seriousness of the atmosphere, and quickly handed the young boy his plate.

"Listen, pal. It's really nice out, how about we eat out on the back porch? I'll be right behind you."

Dajh beamed with excitement and nodded, grabbing his plate and nearly swan-dived through the back door. Snow chuckled as he scooped himself up some eggs, glancing warily at the suddenly awkward family.

"Something I need to know?"

"No"

"Nothing."

"Everything's fine."

"Don't worry."

The responses all came out overlapping one another. They all might as well bought a huge neon sign pointing at them reading "obviously something is wrong." Snow sighed and looked from one person to the other. He decided not to push the topic, and instead invited everyone out back for breakfast. It quickly lead to an intense game of hide-and-seek, which took up a large portion of time. After having to hide for their lives at many points in time, their choices in hiding spots were slightly over the edge, though it turned out to take things off everyone's mind, while also pleasing the youngest one of their new family.

No one knew that was the last day they had together before everything changed. **(I love foreshadowing. :3)**

****

Later that evening, everyone piled themselves into the living room for the news. Hope had given in, and decided to play a round of Go Fish with Dajh, who was suspiciously on a good roll. Sazh claimed it was his Daddy's "gambling power", although no one bought it. After loosing the fourth match, Hope glanced at the TV to see riots on the streets, PSICOM trying to contain the protestors.

"Probably shot them all after the footage was taken," Lightning hissed under her breath. Luckily, only Snow had heard it, and he shook his head in despair. He had to do something, heroes always did something! However, he knew this was out of his reach. The riots had broken out in far too many areas, and he had a family to take care of now. The feeling of helplessness as he bored into the screen was overwhelming. A reporter was suddenly shown interviewing a person of Cocoon.

"They're back! I swear I saw one!"

"Saw one what?"

"A l'Cie! With my very own eyes!"

It had taken little time for a man dressed in his military suit to intervene, tearing the women away from the camera.

"You've got to believe me! They're going to kill us all!"

The screen suddenly went black, and the room had fallen silent. The sounds of that woman shrieking ringing through everyone's mind. The idea was incomprehensive. They all defeated Ragnarok, Fang and Vanille gave their _lives _to set Cocoon straight, their brands were gone, the purge had ended. So how could something so awful ever strike more than once?

"That's impossible," Serah whispered, "she must've seen it wrong. There's no way-"

She was abruptly cut off as sobs racked her chest. Snow was by her side instantly, pulling her into a bone shattering hug, letting her know quietly in her ear everything would be okay. Dajh, who didn't fully understand the situation just stared at the situation play out, watching everyone's facial expressions.

"I can't believe it," Sazh breathed in pure astonishment. He held his son tightly against his chest for comfort, feeling as though he were the only thing holding to together. This couldn't be happening, he couldn't loose the only good thing in this world again. He couldn't risk his life, and fight to save ungrateful people _again. _Terror spiked through his veins, and it took all of his strength to keep from jumping up off the soft rug that had been placed over the beautifully done marble, and book it out of Cocoon. He'd go anywhere to make sure Dajh wasn't used again.

"We can't leave…but we can't stay either," Lighting mused aloud, attempting to look at this situation from a different point of view, though nothing worked. The most atrocious anger bubbled from inside her, and she clenched her fists so tightly that it would've bled had she not been wearing gloves, it was all she could do to keep from breaking things, shattering the walls of their home, punching snow in the face.

"W-we should s-stay h-here. Unless…something h-happens," Serah stuttered, her voice thick with tears. She shivered at the very thought of her brand coming back, the memories were haunting, and it would've consumed her completely had Snow not been embracing her to the point of suffocation.

Hope hadn't uttered a word since the news report was abruptly cut off. He just stared at the floor, in a daze. He felt many emotions. Rage. Sorrow. Horror. And…a little happiness? His head begun shrieking at him for the feeling to dessert him.

_You should be screaming! Crying! Giving your family a well needed pep talk. Don't sit here like an idiot, get up and do something!_

The little voice in Hope's mind shouted angrily at him, and before he was aware of it, he was on his feet, glancing from one person to the other.

"Whatever happens, I'm sure we'll be o-"

Hope's body suddenly let out a god awful tremor, and a searing pain raced through his entire body. He found himself unable to move, speak, or even breath. He felt his eyes widen with shock before his sight began to blur around the edges. The room spun most horribly, and Hope was suddenly positive he was on a boat in the midst of a hurricane. Every cell in his body screeched in protest, tugging, and pulling from inside him, trying to escape the fire that emitted from his very blood. There was no escape, the pain was overwhelming. Hope heard a blood-curdling cry, and it took a few dreadful moments to figure out the sound came from him. The last thing he remembered before passing out was a collected yell from his friends, calling out to him. The world around him went black.


	2. Consequences

_Hey guys. :3 Sorry, it completely escaped my mind that I should've written something about the story in the first chapter, so I'm sorry. XD Anyway, I watched some of the Final Fantasy XIII-2 walkthrough on youtube, and while the graphics were great, and the battles scenes were pretty darn awesome, the story line wasn't exactly what I had in mind. After the first game ended, so many things could've happened between these characters, and for some reason, I always envisioned them staying together. I personally think they brought Lightning to the future so he and Hope could get it on without it being strange, and I guess that could be a legitimate reason, but I just didn't like it as much as FF13. Maybe it was because Serah was the main character, and she wasn't really one of my top five favorites. It was pretty cool seeing each character in the future and how they're grown since the experience though. _

_Anyway, I'm not exactly sure where this story will land, but I plan to keep working with it. Now, I'm also working on other stories too, so if they are slow at coming out, sorry. D: _

_I hope you enjoy chapter two! _

_BY THE WAY: While I'm writing from Dahj's point of view I'm retraining myself from large vocab words, and write in a way that makes it seem like a child would describe it. :3_

_Disclaimer: I don't own the game, nor its characters._

**.**

Hope was falling through the darkness, suddenly unaware of who he was, and his purpose. He simply glided upon the air, going farther into the endless abyss. His ears begun to ring dreadfully, and Hope quickly realized that he was being smothered by blackness. He began to choke, and desperately attempted to catch his breath, but nothing worked. A sudden fear clenched at his insides. Was this death?

"HELP!" he cried pathetically, reaching out to anything that could pull him out, and save him.

He knew no one heard, and that's when he started to panic. What if he was already dead? What if this was hell, and he was stuck there for eternity? The thought alone was petrifying. He looked around, finding everything to be the same. Dark. However, he heard something that immediately knocked the fear from within him. He listened to his heartbeat, it was quick and erratic, and Hope knew that he was still alive. Though why he was there, he didn't know.

"Where am I?" he asked aloud. A small hole of light burst through the darkness below him, and he swam down towards it with pure excitement, yearning to find his way back to wherever he came from. When he finally reached the small speckle of light, he felt a strange pulling sensation, tearing him away from the darkness, and before he knew it, the scenery changed. Images overwhelmed his mind, images of the most horrible.

_War. Blood. Death. Anger. Pain. Destruction. Cocoon. Vengeance. Wounds. Explosions. World domination. Fighting. Tears. Helplessness. L'Cie. _

**.**

Snow was the first one to react the moment Hope dropped to the floor like a rag doll. He knelt down beside the younger boy. He remained unmoving, and Snow took note on how pale Hope was. He began to yell his name, shaking his shoulder roughly. When that didn't work, he moved onto lightly tapping the side his face which he noticed was colder than usual. He paid little attention to Lightning, who whispering something into Hope's ear, and Serah who ran from the living room to find a wet compress. Sazh had hastily pushed a pillow beneath Hope's head and began cursing under his breath. Being a single father, he's had to deal with everything tossed at him that had to do with his son. The first time Dajh had gotten sick was possibly one of the most terrifying moments of his life. He remembered it being a slight cold. He sneezed, coughed, and complained of being plugged up, but after a few days it had progressed into a raging fever, throwing up, and nightmares. He panicked of course, and brought him to the emergency room. He'd gotten the flu, and the doctors had given him some antibiotics that worked to bring his fever down. He was better within days, though the experience still haunted him to this day.

"What's wrong with him?" Dajh, who had long forgotten the card game, sobbed. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew that his friend was in pain! He looked at the rest of the people in the room, and he cried even harder when he realized no one else knew what was wrong with him either. Lighty (his nickname for Light), who was usually calm and collected forgot all of her pride at that moment. Her eyes were wide and frantic, her voice cracking at the attempt to keep from yelling. Dajh knew whatever happened to Hope, it was nothing good. His daddy wrapped his arms tightly around him for the second time this evening, which he found odd. Since he was freed from the pretty crystal, his dad had been awfully touchy, always being reminded on 'how much daddy loves him'. Dajh knew things were getting worse again, he just didn't understand why.

"Come on, buddy, wake up. Open your eyes," Snow urged. He was just about ready to yell when he heard a quiet groan come from Hope. At first he wasn't sure if he'd heard correctly, so he leaned in closely and listened again.

"I'm sorry," Hope moaned. Snow felt an unnatural relief, as did the rest of the room. Lightning squeezed the teenage boy's hand tightly inside of hers, and brought it to her lips where she placed a small kiss on his knuckle. **(I don't so much look at them as lovers, more like a brother/sister or a mom/son relationship, but if you really want them to be together in the story, I won't stop you. XD) **She was so caught up on getting her heartbeat back under control that she nearly missed the look of pain that crawled upon Hope's face.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly, gently pushing the hair out of his eyes. Hope still seemed to be confused as to where he was. His eyes were blinking rapidly to adjust to the light that issued from the lamp a few feet away from them. His breathing was shallow and quick, as though he'd just run a good distance, and a sheet of cold sweat drenched his face. Serah moved cautiously to press the wet washcloth to his face, wiping the perspiration away.

"M' arm," Hope frowned. A strange pain radiated up from his forearm, and while it wasn't as horrible as what he'd felt before, it wasn't exactly a walk in the park. He attempted to lift his head to look at the problem, but failed to as he realized his body felt as heavy as lead, pinning him to the soft carpet beneath him, which surprisingly felt cool against his exposed skin. His eyes, which had finally grown used to the light in the room, focused in on from Snow, to Lightning. Both of them looked weary from the events that had just progressed before them, though neither of them spoke. Snow slowly lifted Hope's arm, and Hope heard a distinct gasp in shock emit from the usually Happy-Go-Lucky guy's mouth. His eyes grew to the point that Hope thought they would fall out_, _and prepared himself for the worst.

"Damn it. _Damn it. _DAMN IT," Snow screamed, jumping to his feet. Hope couldn't hear anyone else's reactions besides his, because it was so terribly loud. He stomped his feet, he punched everything near him, he smashed his fist through the wall. Hope's fear had been proven at that point. Those images he'd seen in that dark, ominous world, hadn't actually been images. It had been his focus, just as the first time. Hope knew the dream felt familiar, as though he'd seen it before.

_But how? _It had no sense. How could he have been branded by an invisible enemy, unseen by everyone? How was it possible to become a l'Cie without having some sort of physical force persuading this change? Most importantly, how could these marks come back in such a short time, or even at all? The focus was completed, the world was saved.

"How?" Lighting murmured, who was utterly horrorstruck. There was always a reason behind everything that happened. Not everything had a distinct timeline, but there was _always _a reason. Even now, thinking back on it, she didn't know exactly what came to pass first. Had the purge caused the branding? Vise versa? Had it been the Fal'Cie to start that massacre, or the people of Cocoon? Had she of become a l'Cie even if Serah had never come to such a terrible fate?

So many unasked questions. So many points, that very possibly couldn't be answered. Nothing added up, not a single point in time had any of them, besides the bad feeling Hope had experienced, gotten any sort of clues that the same disaster would strike more than once.

"Why?" Serah whispered, "why is this happening to us again?"

That was a question no one could answer, not even her big sister, who she looked up to in every aspect. Serah rarely saw Claire's face anything but cold, and stern. Ever since Hope and the others came into her life, she smiled a lot more, she even laughed. It was the most amazing thing Serah had seen happen in the time since their parents had died. The only emotion that was rarer than happiness was fear, or any sign of distress. Before she had turned to crystal, she saw it in her eyes.

_Her body felt weak though Snow was grasping her tightly against him, whispering frantically. She suddenly felt very tired, and was slowly getting dragged down to the depths of sleep. Serah knew this was the end, she had completed her focus, no matter how badly she wanted to prevent it. She would've rather gone Cie'th than bringing her fiancé into this mess. She felt so worthless, she knew her time was limited, and the amount of time it would take to explain was too catastrophic. The look on Lightning's face frightened Serah. It was one that was unfamiliar, foreign. For one ghastly moment, it reminded the young girl the night the doorbell had rung, and a few minutes later seeing her older sister, stumbling into the room, pale and disoriented, mumbling nonsense about their parents. She was brought back to reality as she felt hot tears burn her tear ducts and the last thing she remembered was staring in the eyes of her dear sister, and the love of her life._

Lightning's expression mirrored the one from her memory, and she shivered inwardly. She suddenly realized that the riots lately had not been because they were angry. The civilians were scared, some of them must have been branded somehow, going through the same exact situation as their's, and didn't know how to handle it. Suicide rates had suddenly spiked within the passed few weeks, and no one knew why. It was very possible that the people who had seen their brand panicked and killed themselves. Hope had been right to be untrusting towards the new leaders of Cocoon. Instead of dealing with the situation, they've simply brushed it off, as though it were nothing to worry about.

"We have to get outta here!" Sazh demanded in a hard tone, "if this is happening to Hope, there's a good chance the rest of us will go back to being l'Cie, and we can't wait until then to ditch down! I say we pack our stuff and run to the hills."

"Run?" Hope murmured wearily, "if we all end up l-like this again…why would we run? We have to complete our focus…"

Sazh looked enraged as he stared at the small boy who still remaining lying on the ground.

"You think we'll actually make it out this time around? It took all the luck and skill we had to beat it last time, and I know damn well what'll happen if we don't-but I can't take the risk. My son needs me, and if there's something I can do to prevent him from turning back, I'll do it. No one will touch him again."

Lightning was on her feet by now, staring down at Sazh, glaring daggers, "you actually think leaving will accomplish anything? If we turn back, it doesn't matter where we are. This disease is already in our body, flowing through our veins. If you can't deal with that, then you're just as bad as the people who run this place."

"Shut your mouth! You think that staying here will do us any good either? If we turn back, who will be the first to know? You think that they'll just us meander around, supposedly "infecting" over people? They probably already know about Hope, and you're all sitting here on your asses like you've got all the time in the world to just lounge about."

It was Snow's turn to step in as a jab of agitation sent him over the edge. He had been at the window, staring out it, half tempted to shatter the weak thing just before Sazh went into a rage.

"And you think leaving the only support you have is smart? You think that taking your son away and running will only improve your chances for living? I thought we said we would ALWAYS stay together through the hard time. Now get a grip, and think this over, because I'm fully prepared to punch the living daylights out of you."

Dajh was close to tears again after seeing his Daddy scream like that. He knew he was scared, he knew someone was going to come after them again. Dajh thought back to the mean lady that was almost always by his side when he'd turned into crystal. Was it going to be someone that heartless? Or like the other old man? The look in his eye had been really scary, it lacked any sort of emotion. Dajh knew the man wasn't human, because humans couldn't float on the air. Whenever he was around, he could feel something evil about him, and it was frightening.

"Daddy please," Dajh begged, "no more yelling. Please don't make us run away. The mean people will get us."

Before Sazh even had time to open his mouth, a loud explosion came from just outside the door, which shook the foundation of the house. The reaction was immediate. Snow scrambled towards the door to see who it was. He was unsurprised when he was a large ship drifting in the sky, the guns locked directly on the room in which they were in. Lightning read his face almost instantly, and she pushed Serah towards the back door, and pulled Hope onto her back.

The group of people hardly had time to make it out before the house burst into flames from another shot, and they ran into a small nearby forest to hide, and think of a plan. They couldn't stay in Cocoon, that much was certain, but they had to stay, to complete their focus. It was impossible choice. It was like picking a fast death, or a slow one.

Hope felt his eyes begin to flutter shut as Lighting ran with him on her back. He'd become so overly worried by what had unraveled through the night, and felt the best way to deal with it was through welcoming the darkness that yearned to overtake him. The last thing he saw was a flash of green and brown from the trees that quickly zoomed by his head.

_Sorry, I know the end of the chapter was kind of weak, but I was tired, and I had to get ready for school. XD I'm so sorry for keeping all of your lovely people waiting for the second chapter, but I've been busy with the play (Seussical!) at school, and it's finally show week!_

_I'll try to get the next chapter out as quickly as possible, but I'm not sure exactly when I'll be able to. Please review, I'd really like to know what I'm doing right, and what I could improve!_


	3. Update! Read please!

Hello friends. :3

As I said in the last chapter, I can't update for a while because of the play, and because I'm falling behind in one of my classes. XD

I just wanted to thank people for their reviews, and apologize for how sloppy the chapter was. I was rushing, and I'll probably try to re-do it at some point very soon, so don't fret.(:

I'm also sorry I wasn't exactly clear on Hope's situation. HE was branded, and no one knows how, and in their panic, Sazh is afraid the rest of them will as well, and tries to run to protect his son. I didn't want to have to spoil it, but I guess you could already tell through the horrible foreshadowing that all of them will slowly gain back their brands. As I see it, if Hope were to have gotten branded last during FF13, even if only by a few seconds, then things should work opposite, therefore making him first the next time around. It seemed clear in my mind at the time, but writing at five o'clock in the morning can make anything seem good. XD

Again, I'm really sorry for not being clear, and I'm sorry for the chapter being written so dreadfully! I promise I'll go back and fix it. ;D

Vecktus; The only reason I made the Hope/Lightning paring iffy is because I want them to have that relationship for _now. _I like the idea of them getting together sometime, but since he is still an adolescent I feel I should just keep them friendly. I'll either have them together by the end, or I'll keep their pairing mildly suggested. :D

Thank you! I couldn't think of any other way to put it than 'point of view'. XD

I know, I'm so sorry about the ending! I had to go to school, and I just wanted to get it up before leaving. I'm going to try and go back to fix it later tonight. :3

Thanks for the feedback, it came in very handy. :D

Madapocket; Hope is the only one who was branded, for now.(;

Lightarcana; Thank you! I'll be updating as much as possible, don't worry. Hehe, I can only hope so.(: Hope has pretty much been branded, only no one knows why. I'll get into more detail about as the story between his brand becomes more complex, I'm really excited about some of my ideas!

Ettbarn; Thank you! I'll be sure to post the next chapter soon!

A Fair Amount of Strike; D'aw thank you! That means a lot! I'm going to try to post the next one as soon as possible!

DancerInTheDark101; Thank you for your review, it really made my day, and it prompted me to want to write more chapters! :D


	4. Sudden Nightmares

_Hello everyone. :3 After how badly the last chapter went, I'm trying to redeem myself with the next part. Just to be clear again, as of now Hope is the only one with his brand. This chapter may be slightly dull action wise, but things between this family have to be resolved, and they have to figure out what exactly they're going to be doing. I hope you enjoy! Please review and give be feedback. C:_

_Disclaimer: I don't own the game, or any of its characters._

**FF13FF13FF13**

_Hope was sitting on a wide open plain. The sun shown brilliantly in the sky, no clouds anywhere in sight. The grass tickled his feet, and the breeze delicately moved his hair from side to side. He aloud the scenery around him to fill him up. He absorbed the sunlight, a warm feeling spreading evenly throughout his body wearing away any signs of distress or worry. Freshly grown grass, and flowers aroused his senses. Then there was another smell. It was strong, although very nostalgic. It wasn't as harsh as the scent of mint, or cinnamon, but it was enough to make Hope wrinkle his nose. Just before he could grasp the name of to whom it belonged, a laugh made its way to his ears. It rang even more beautifully than the wind whistling in his around him. Hope slowly looked up, and he was sure he could feel his heard skip a beat from inside his chest._

"_Mom." he whispered. She was only yards away, a clothes liner in front of her, and she had begun to hang the damp clothing, quietly humming to herself. He was sure he was imagining things, his mom was dead. He'd seen it happen! He was absentmindedly climbing to his feet, slowly approaching the woman, his hand extended fully. When he got to the point the could touch her arm, he stopped, taking in a shaky breath before continuing. He was afraid the moment he would proceed, she would turn to dust, leaving him alone once again. _

"_Mom," he repeated slightly louder as he softly placed his hand on her shoulder. Her head slowly turned, and they spent a long moment merely looking into each others eyes. Hope noted that she looked younger than she was the day she died, she looked healthy. The last time the two of them had been together, she looked sad, like something had been on her mind. Hope always meant to ask her about it, but they were thrown on that train before he could say anything._

"_Hope," she smiled before pulling him into a bone shattering hug. It was that moment that he realized this was real, she was here with him. He returned the gesture, squeezing her as tightly as he possibly could. All the memories the two of them had together came flying back during that hug. Every story she'd read to him at night, every morning at breakfast, every walk in the park, every silly argument. Before he even had time to shed a tear at the fact he had his mom back, she had pushed him away, a frightened look contorted her expression._

"_Hope you have to run, this place isn't safe for you," she demanded. The sky was suddenly covered by grey, threatening clouds, and the wind had become more gusty. It also seemed to quietly squeal the words 'run'. The clothes on the hanger were long forgotten, and they begun to fly off of the wire, drifting away into the distance of the never ending patch of land. _

"_Get out of here," she begged, "Hope, do this for your mom!"_

_He didn't know how to respond, he didn't even know what was going on. He managed to glance down, and realized that all the grass, except the spot around his feet, had turned an ugly yellow. His eyes darted back up when he heard a new voice._

"_What the hell are you doin' kid? Get going!" Sazh spat gesturing to him with his gun. He pulled on his battle face, however there was no hiding the fear in the man's eyes. The hand in which he held his gun trembled, and his knees were slightly buckling beneath him._

"_Run, Hope!" came another oddly familiar voice. Hope nearly choked on his gasp at the next person who had come by. Vanille. "Run, run, run, run!"_

_She chanted the words in more of an exciting manner, although that was typical of this girl. Even during the worst possible situation, and she could still pull out some of her cheerful disposition._

"_HOPE!" Lighting and Snow roared at the same time. Their fiercest expressions aligned their faces, their weapons at the ready. The young boy couldn't help but look around for danger, he was surprised to find nothing. He didn't know what had gotten into them, was he in some sort of danger?_

"_Hey you! While you're taking your sweet old time, the darkness is getting closer! Would you just get a move on?" Fang yelled. Her eyes pierced into his own, and it took a moment to comprehend the woman's words._

"_Darkness?" he asked quietly, somehow knowing his voice had been heard by everyone, despite the distance between them all._

"_Hope, please, you need to run, you have to get away-or you'll be killed!" Serah moaned desperately. Her voice was broken and it trembled with fear as the wind gave an especially ferocious howl._

"_You'll lose. Even if you run, I'll find you and your friends. Every single one of you will die a painful death, I'll make sure of it," came a new voice. It was unfamiliar, but the evil oozed from it, each word was spat with a dark threat, and for a moment, Hope believed him. The man had no true figure, he was a mere silhouette, although Hope could see the outline color of his eyes. His blood red, half crazed eyes. Never in all of his life had Hope seen anything so downright terrifying._

"_Now wake up."_

**FF13FF13FF13**

Hope's eyes snapped open, and he found himself panting heavily. It took him a moment of looking around to confirm it had been a dream, however, while that man had scared him beyond belief, his mom had been there, and he would do anything just to be with her again.

After adjusting to the room's lights, he looked around and heard hushed voices coming from just outside the room he was in. Snow's voice was most recognizable; even when he whispered he couldn't completely contain exactly how loudness of his voice. Hope was able to pick out every few of his words such as "PSICOM" "little bitches" and "branded." Still feeling as heavy as a brick, it took effort to get himself to his feet and towards the door. Light leaked in from underneath, and he slowly twisted the door knob where he found Lightning, Snow, and Sazh all sitting at a small table, leaning in close, almost in a huddle. Serah was asleep with Dajh on the couch. His head was rested upon her stomach, and her arms were wrapped protectively around him.

"Hope," Lighting said, looking up from the table. She was already on her feet, and placed her hand softly on his shoulder, looking into his eyes with an unusual amount of worry, "are you feeling alright?"

Hope had the sudden urge to cry, and during his attempt to keep the tears from falling, his chin quivered dangerously. He knew Light had seen it, and he felt ridiculous, he was acting like a little kid. He knew very well he'd been through worse, but that dream had pushed him to the breaking point.

"I saw my mom." His voice sounded strange even to him, and it was thick with the sob that was trapped in the back on his throat. He swallowed, and pushed it back as far as he could. He wasn't about to let himself lose it now.

"What do you mean?" Snow asked, looking confused as always. He watched Hope make a grimace, and had to contain himself from ruffling the hair on his head to comfort him. He knew nothing he would do were going to make things better, not until they started on their next mission.

"I had a dream. She was there, just hanging some clothes out in a large empty field. She used to do that all the time, she said it made the clothes smell like the outdoors when you first put them on," he rambled on, staring at the floor. He muttered a quick 'sorry' before continuing.

"Then the rest of you appeared, and you were all telling me to run. Something about darkness. B-but then…this man was suddenly there. I-I don't know what he looked like, but he s-swore he'd kill us all. I've never seen anyone who looked as evil as him."

Hope shuddered inwardly at the memory, a strange sense of dread plucking from the inside of his chest. He knew whoever this guy was meant business. What frightened him even more than the dream, or the fact that he was now branded once again to an unwanted fate, his family would suffer as well. That alone was enough to nearly send him into hysteria.

"Hope, calm down," Lighting commanded in a reassuring tone, "we'll do whatever it takes to take this man down. If there's any sort of clues you could give us, like what you saw in your focus?"

Hope pondered for a moment, thinking back to the dozens-no _hundreds _of pictures that raced across his mind in nearly no time at all. He tried to lock onto at least one that could give him any sort of hint on what to do.

"It's all so fuzzy," he mused aloud, "I can see a lot of destruction though. There's so much pain. I-"

He was struck he a shock of déjà vu as one of the images became clear to him. A silhouetted figure moving towards him, his eyes just as fierce, a red substance dripping off his body. Hope knew without a doubt the blood was not his own, but the blood of multiple people.

"He was in the focus, that man," he confirmed, "I'm sure the focus has something to do with him."

"Maybe we have to kill him," scoffed Snow, folding his arms across his chest.

"Sounds about right. Why is it every time something like this happens, we've always got to risk out lives to defeat some guy to save people who probably want to kill us," Sazh frowned heavily, the wrinkles around his eyes suddenly becoming very noticeable.

"Don't think of it like that," Light scolded, "think of it more as we're saving ourselves from dying also."

Sazh shrugged, twisting his gun around on his finger, and Hope couldn't help but feel bothered by the gesture. He knew it was something the man would do to rid himself of stress, but it was somehow managing to make him even more paranoid than he already was. Just as he was preparing to yell, he remembered Serah and Dajh were asleep on the couch, and instead turned around and ignored it.

"Where are we, by the way?" Hope asked, suddenly realizing the environment was unfamiliar to him. Light cleared her throat, a slight edge of guilt coming through.

"Well, there was a note of the table that was written to the nanny saying the family was on vacation and wouldn't be back for a week, so we decided to stay here."

Hope chuckled at the response, shaking his head lightly.

"We'll be moving on tomorrow morning though," Lighting added gravely, "PSICOM is after you now, and we can't have them getting in the way of our mission again. They nearly killed you and Snow last time, I won't have them be a threat to us anymore."

The young boy nodded mutely, and looked down. His heart skipped a step as he caught a glance of something ominous. Sazh had seemed to have fallen asleep at the table, his head was back over the seat, and his legs were spread oddly due to the size of it. His chest was just hardly visible, however, there was enough showing that the most awful caught Hope's attention.

"Oh no," he whispered, walking over. There upon his chest, clear as daylight, rested a brand. Snow and Lightning followed not too far behind, their gasps just as loud as his own.

Hope was beginning to think that what that man had said to him was true. He was going after every single one of them, and he would stop at nothing until each of them fall to their untimely death. For a moment, he thought he could hear a ghost of a laugh maliciously in his ears.

"_Hope."_

_I hope this one is a little bit better! I hope you all enjoyed it! :3_


	5. On the Run

_Hi guys! I'm oh so sorry for not updating for a while, but I've been busy with the end of the marking period at school, and my sister is sick, and none of the doctors can tell us why. Anyway, I'll try to keep up, but there's no telling what shit-storm will pop up next. XD_

_Hope you enjoy!_

Hope glanced around nervously, feeling as though wherever he went, he was being watched. Clutching his wrist tightly, he moved briskly into a small store just down the road to pick up some necessary supplies. The last thing any of them wanted was to be forced to pick berries off of bushes, eat wild mushrooms, and kill small animals as they did during their last journey. The only real food they'd gotten their hands on was when they were visiting Hope's dad. While looking through the aisles, Hope became aware of the fact that the store manager was watching him.

"Snow," he muttered under his breath, "Snow, he's watching us."

Snow, who already had an armful of food, glanced up and cautiously stared at the man who was looking at the pair of them with wary eyes.

"He doesn't know, don't worry."

Hope wasn't too sure. Wanting to leave as quickly as possible, he grabbed a stack of crackers off the shelf, and then ushered Snow to the front to pay. The middle aged man smelled heavily of cinnamon, and the scent tickled Hope's nose.

"That'll be fifteen dollars," he said, his voice monotone. Instead of handing Snow the receipt, Hope watched as he carefully set it down with his change and slid it across the counter, for a glimmer of a moment Hope was sure he saw fear in the man's eyes.

"Thank you," Snow grinned cheerily. He didn't seem to notice a thing, he merely bundled his receipt and his money into a ball, and shoved it ruthlessly into his pocket. The two of them turned to leave when Hope felt Snow's hand pushing him forward towards the door. Feeling a sense of urgency, they picked up their pace until they were a good distance away from the store.

"We have to go," Snow frowned, "he definitely knows. PSICOM will be onto us again soon, so we really to ditch town."

Snow continued to speed walk, not wanting to look suspicious by running. The house they had been staying at was only minutes away, maybe less if they continued at the pace they were going at. Light would be waiting for them, she had gone off earlier with Sazh to get potions and band-aid kits.

Hope suddenly felt someone grab his arm, or his wrist rather. _That _wrist. He turned to see who it was, preparing himself to fight when he saw a small child tugging on his sleeve. While his heart was returning to normal speed, he smiled lightly at the small boy.

"Can I help you?" he asked, not unkindly. He really had to get going, but he didn't want to abandon the small child if he was in need of help.

"I just wanna tell you something!" he grinned at Hope, small holes missing where he'd lost his teeth.

"Yeah?" he urged the kid to continue. Hope was caught off guard when the boy grabbed the collar of his shirt. He was surprisingly strong, and his eyes had turned an eerie red.

"I'm going to kill you."

Hope's breath hitched in the back of his throat as he stumbled away from the demonic child. He knew right away it was no longer the innocent boy from only seconds ago. He shuddered as an image of the cloaked figure from his dream drowned his mind.

"Hope, come on!" Snow shouted, he was all the way down the street by now, and he waved his arms about impatiently.

"C-coming!" Hope replied, running away, only looking back once to the sound of a insane giggle emitting from behind him.

**FF13FF13FF13FF13FF13**

"I'm hungry," Dajh whined, rubbing the weariness out of his eyes. Serah gave him a reassuring smile.

"We'll take a break soon, don't worry."

Leaving town wasn't exactly as easy as they had all first planned. Just as they were all ready to go, PSICOM had found them and cornered them in. They barely managed an escape, and it took losing some of their supplies. Hope shook his head, thinking back to Snow's idiotic move.

"I said I was sorry!" Snow cried, practically reading the silver haired boy's mind.

"You threw a loaf of bread at them! How was that supposed to hurt?"

"I panicked."

It was Lightning's turn to jump in. "Yeah, right. Because Snow Villiers panics so often."

The argument between the three of them carried on until a branch snapped just a few yards away, causing them all to fall silent.

"Who's there?" Snow demanded, getting into a defensive pose. Lighting elbowed him roughly in the chest.

"Ow, what was that?" Snow yelled childishly.

"Don't be dumb," Light scoffed, pulling her gun blade out, "I'll go check it out."

Hope was tempted to stop her, but she already had that look of determination in her eye. He had a bad feeling though. Since that run in with the red eyed man from before, he's felt as though something were off.

Lighting moved slowly and steadily towards the place the noise had come from, and Hope found himself hoping it was a bunny, or some other sort of small creature, and mentally slapped himself.

_Animals don't just hang out around this part of the woods._

"Well would you lookie here."

Her tone was a fake playfulness, and it caused Hope's insides to tighten. He watched her kneel down and lift up a trembling man that looked oddly familiar.

"You!" Snow nearly yelled. It was the store manager, only something was different about him.

It was times like those that Hope seriously wondered if it all should've just ended right there, it would've saved him and his friends from a fate worse than death. If only he'd known that at the time.

A large bomb was strapped to his chest. Running was an option, but since the man had a detonator in his hand, he could easily press the button, and they couldn't tell how large the explosion would be. If it didn't blow Hope and the rest to smithereens, it would be loud enough to lead the PSICOM team directly to them.

"Woah, buddie, watch it," Snow put his hands up in front of him, his expression nervous, "lets just calm down."

Lighting merely shook her head, anticipating exactly what was about to happen. He was no store manager, that was for sure. He was an undercover working for the military, and they had fallen right into their trap.

"Damn," Light muttered, "this day just keeps getting better and better."

Sazh had pushed his son protectively behind him, his hands shaking furiously. Whether it was out of fear for his son, or rage, he wasn't quite sure. Since receiving his brand just the night before, everything had fallen into a new perspective. The way things were going, Dajh would surly get his brand back in no time, and Sazh was determined to put an end to the whole 'fiasco' before it escalated out of control.

"DON'T MOVE!" the man screamed. Deep down, he really didn't want to press the button. It wouldn't only kill him, but it would wipe out the rest of them as well. They looked like people, they didn't look like killers, or out to gain world domination. Though, if he didn't press the button he'd be wiped out by the military general. So if he was going to die either way, he wanted to go out as any good soldier would. He unwillingly tightened his grip around the remote in his possession, and clenched his teeth tightly together. His thumb danced lightly upon the button that would be his end.

"This is goodbye."

Lighting, who saw this move coming, grabbed hold of her sister's arm, dragging her away as quickly as possible. Everyone retreated back towards a fallen tree, and just as they went to jump behind it for cover, the explosion threw all of them into the air, yards away from their original destination, knocking them all out cold.

**FF13FF13FF13FF13FF13**

Hope moaned quietly, the scent of dirt and sweat greeting him. His entire body was sore, from the muscles crying out in pain, to the open wound just above his temple. He felt blood running down his face. He took note of the fact that the it had dried, which meant he'd been laying on the ground for a while. Thinking back to what happened, he remembered the bomb going off and-

"L-Light?" he coughed frantically, lifting his pounding head off the forest floor. The sun had hidden itself down below the trees, though he could still pick out a head full of pink hair just a couple of feet away from him. He was able to lift himself up onto his knees, and he crawled over to the unmoving woman.

"Lightning?" he repeated a little louder. He shook her shoulder desperately until he was positive he'd heard a small groan escape her lips.

"Hope? You alright?" she asked, voice slightly muffled. He chuckled softly and aided her into a sitting position. Ruble covered most of her face, and Hope guessed that he looked similar to her. He noticed that her arm was bent at an odd angle, and Light caught him staring at it worriedly. She mumbled a quick "I'm fine", and moved on to trying to pop it back into place. Hope decided it was best just to not say anything about it.

"Nothing a bit of rest won't fix. We've been here for a while though, the sun's already going down."

Light blinked a few times, holding her shoulder.

"How could that be? Why didn't PSICOM follow us?"

"Not sure, they probably thought we were dead."

Light scoffed, "that guy was an idiot."

Hope nodded in agreement, thinking back to just before the explosion. There were tears in the man's eyes. It could've been just because he knew that was his final moment of living, but something about him made Hope think that he was guilty for trying to take their lives. In Cocoon, soldiers had no real free will. If they were told to do something, they did it. Partially out of fear, and the other half because they felt serving their home was an obligation.

"Ow," grunted a new voice, "next time someone tries to blow us up, I'll be more prepared."

Snow grabbed the side of his head and slowly sat up. A nasty gash went across his right cheek, and some of the ends of his hair was singed. Other than that, he looked to be alright. Lightning had gotten herself to her feet and went to check on Serah. She didn't seem to be bleeding at all, but Hope couldn't have been sure from the angle he was seeing her from. Sazh seemed to be coming around as well, and Hope could already faintly hear the curse words leaving his mouth.

"Damn, is there no one we can trust?" Sazh demanded loud enough for the rest of us to hear. Dajh seemed to have no apparent injuries, for his dad had taken most, if not all the damage when they were thrown.

"Good thing we've got a band-aid kit!" Serah called, pulling out her satchel that surprisingly wasn't destroyed. Snow help his fiancé to her feet and pulled her into a comforting hug, asking quietly if she was alright.

Hope couldn't help but smile. Though for a good portion of the time he acted like an oversized five year old, Snow really stepped up his game when it came to Serah, and that's probably the only reason Light hasn't killed him yet.

"We should find somewhere safe to stay for the night, then we can take care of any injuries," Light said before turning her attention to Hope, "are you okay? That's a pretty bad head wound you've got there, maybe we should take a look at it."

"I'm fine, really," Hope assured, though the pounding in his head had become more consistent since standing up, and he realized there was now a dull buzzing in his ears, "lets get going."

Light didn't look convinced, but there was no use in arguing if it would draw attention to possible PSICOM soldiers wandering about, and if he truly was hurt, she didn't want to make it worse by getting him riled up.

"Right."

They walked a little over a mile before finding a spot to rest. It was near a small creek they could use to clean themselves off, and for fresh water. Hope was taken over by exhaustion as he dropped himself beside the crick, and found himself sitting beside Serah.

"As long as you're here, I should take care of your head," Serah mused aloud. Hope, who opened his mouth to protest held back from talking. If she were anything like Light, she definitely wouldn't take no for an answer. It was safer just to give him this time. She opened the small kit and pulled out a large roll of gauze. It only took a few minutes, and by the time she'd finished Hope was half asleep.

"Are you alright? You're awfully quiet."

Hope wasn't exactly sure if he should tell her about what he'd seen in town earlier, so he simply gave her a tired grin.

"Just tired from today." It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the only reason he was out of it. He once again saw the small child staring at him, his eyes a deadly red.

"I don't blame you, why don't you go get some sleep? We'll have to get moving early tomorrow."

Hope nodded gratefully and retreated a the most comfortable spot he could find. He leaned back against a large tree and let his eyes flutter closed. Luckily for him it was a warm night, so he wouldn't freeze.

Despite everything that happened, Hope finally felt as relaxed as he usually was before this had all started. He thought back to those days when it was just them, laughing, making jokes, and beating up Snow daily. How he yearned for those days to come back.

That was the last night they would ever see each other under the same stars.

_I hope you guys enjoyed it! I'm not sure the next time I'm going to update again, but I'll try to as soon as possible. :3 _


	6. Bloodthirsty

_Why hello everyone. :3 With break giving me more than enough free time, I've decided to get as many chapters done as I can before heading back to school. ._._

_Anyway, I hope you enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I own absolutely NOTHING. D':_

Hope was the first one up the next morning. From the events that had taken place the night before, and the unshakeable throbbing in his head, he spent most of the time tossing and turning against the uncomfortable tree he'd chosen to rest beneath.

He slowly made his way to his feet, the world around him spun, and be became aware of the small black dots he had to blink out of his vision. After a moment of pulling himself together, Hope stumbled over to the stream and splashed the cool water on his face, refreshing his senses.

He looked around at the scenery, and watched as the sun slowly begun to peak its way through the tree tops, it had to be at least seven due to the coolness of the air, and the dew that stuck to the grass. The birds were chirping in delight a small distance away, and for a moment, Hope could feel the tranquility of the area. There was no Snow screaming in his ear, or men with huge guns chasing them, and for a moment, he was able to suppress that fact that he was once again a l'Cie.

He leaned over and stared at his reflection in the bright blue water when suddenly his normally bluish gray eyes had turned a bloodthirsty red. He quickly got to his feet and turned to retreat back away from the creek, nearly running into Light, who had been walking toward him. She sent him a strange look.

"You're up early."

Hope felt an embarrassed smile dance upon his lips. He nodded, not quite in the mood to explain why. Lighting made her way down to the stream and splashed her face as Hope had, and inhaled sharply enough for him to hear.

"I say we give everyone at least half an hour before we hit the road," she decided aloud.

"I'm sorry." Hope was unaware of what he said until his own voice reached his ears. He hadn't intended on saying anything, but something inside him just snapped. He instantly regretted it by the look at Light gave him. He saw a hint of sympathy written across her features, but a good portion of it was anger, the kind that nearly caused Hope to take a step back and prepare to defend himself in case of attack.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," she said fiercely, "none of this is your fault. Do you understand? No one could've prevented this from happening. Not me, and not you."

Hope nodded numbly, feeling slightly ridiculous for his outburst. The past few days have proven how unstable his heart was. He didn't know what the consequences of the choices he made in the past, and would continue to make throughout their journey would affect them. Before he knew it, Lightning had pulled him into a firm hug. It reminded him of the hugs his mother used to give him after a nightmare, and for the first time, he felt his arms wrap around her to return the embrace.

"You'll be alright," she murmured quietly in his ear, "I promise."

**FF13FF13FF13FF13FF13**

"Hey Hope!" Snow called.

Hope glanced back over his shoulder and frowned at the malicious grin on the man's face. He knew something was coming, and suddenly wished that he'd ignored him.

"Remember when we were all cooped up inside during that nasty storm a few months back and decided it would be a good idea to bed surf down the stairs?"

"Actually, that was your idea," Hope said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, something like that. Anyway, when I wiped out on a second step to the top and got that massive rug burn down my face-"

"I think we all remember that. Serah snapped a few pictures of you later that night."

"Wait. She what?"

"Never mind. Is there a point to this story?"

Snow threw his head back and laughed loudly enough to scare the birds away, "not really, I was just reminded of it because-"

When Snow didn't finished his sentence, everyone turned around to look at him. He wasn't just one of those guys to cut himself off mid-sentence, he'd even gone on a rant about it before after someone on the news did it, and said that not only is it unprofessional, but it's extremely annoying to the viewers.

"Snow?"

His eyes were wide with what seemed to be shock, his mouth gaped open as though he didn't know what to say. Hope noticed that he was staring down at his forearm, and shivers were sent roughly down his spine.

"You're kidding me?" Light muttered, marching over to the distraught Snow and glanced down. Hope had treaded quickly behind, and surly enough, and brand laid upon his skin like it had never left in the first place.

"Well, uh. This isn't too good," Snow mused weakly. Serah had tears in her eyes and she fell into the arms of her love, holding him as tightly as she possibly could. Hope bit down on his lip, and an unusual amount of frustration began to boil through his veins.

"Did you see anything?" he demanded, his voice high with rage, "anything at all?"

Snow shook his head slowly. His eyes were still fixated on the mark on his skin, "I didn't see a thing. How are we supposed to complete our focus without even having a clue what we're supposed to do?"

"This has got to end!" Sazh shouted, stamping his foot down like a melodramatic teenage girl, "it's obvious that we are all getting our brands back, but why? We deserve answers!"

"Answers that we don't have!" Light snapped back.

"Well maybe before running off we could've listened to the news one more time or-"

"You're the one that wanted to run away in the first place!"

"I never meant without finding out exactly what was going on! You think being left completely oblivious was the smartest idea."

"We didn't exactly have a choice," Light laughed humorlessly, "unless you forgot, then you should be able to realize that if we had stayed any longer, PSICOM would've killed us."

"Claire, please," Serah begged, grabbing hold of her sister's hand. Lightning scoffed, though she didn't say anything afterwards, "we can't keep fighting like this. We're all we have."

The group of people fell silent and simply stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity. The sun was no longer shining, for it was hidden behind large ominous clouds rolling in, carrying a threatening wind that moaned quietly.

"Daddy, I don't like this," whimpered Dajh, "I'm scared."

"Don't be scared, buddy. We're going to be alright." Hope heard Sazh's voice crack, and knew immediately it had been out of fear. He didn't blame him, things were getting to the point that Hope was starting to doubt their own abilities to make it through this one. Hope had been the only one to witness his focus, but if they didn't figure it out soon, everyone else would slowly gain their brands back, and the possibility of going Cie'th was a higher risk than the first time. If it came down to that, Hope was prepared to take his own life.

"What is that?" Dajh cried, pointing towards the sky directly above them. A purple light had begun to intertwine itself with the clouds, when a bright light had shot down from the atmosphere, hitting each of them.

Hope felt an odd sensation grow somewhere deep in his chest. Every dark emotion within him seemed to intensify, suffocating and dragging him towards the darkness below them. He couldn't think, he couldn't even take in a breath that he was in desperate need of. The pain was unbearable, and for a moment, Hope though it was the end. He saw a pair of red eyes only inches from his face, a low laugh following close behind.

"_Suffer."_

That was the last thing Hope remembered before the world faded around him.

**FF13FF13FF13FF13FF13**

Hope felt himself sprawled across the ground, and felt a strange sense of déjà vu. He was in that position the second time in two days, only this time he didn't have to clear his mind and remember what had happened last. He remembered every detail, every feeling, some of which still lingered with him.

"Guys?" he called, earning not a single response in return. He jumped to his feet, looking around, this time seeing no one about. No pink hair, no large bear like bodies, nothing that even resembled a person. In fact, everything was silent. The birds seemed to have disappeared, which is when Hope felt his heart begin to accelerate from inside him.

"Is anyone here?" he yelled louder. No one. Nothing. Feeling frantic, and broke into a run, calling out whosever name came to mind, searching, yearning for at least one of them to show themselves.

"Please! Someone!"

His voice echoed through the endless woods, though he continued to run through the dark, dodging trees and tripping over broken sticks and old stumps.

"Hope."

He stopped in his tracks, and turned his head to where he'd heard his name. He let out a gasp as he was suddenly met by the same pair of red eyes from the dream. From the little boy in town. From his own reflection in the stream. From inside the pit of darkness.

"Who are you?"

_I've decided to leave it at a cliffhanger for now. XD I know this chapter was a quickie, and I had trouble describing the whole storm scene because it's extremely late at night and I heard someone moaning outside the house, and it's creeping me out. O.O_


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